


Patching Wounds, Visiting In-Laws

by BlueLightningAndNexus



Series: My DC Universe [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Dick's adoptive father, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, But basically the Teen Titans and Young Justice teams had a massive brawl, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Including Harper Row and Stephanie Brown, Insomnia, Married Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Mentions of Wally West, Mentions of the entire Wayne Family, Multi, Nightmares, Please read my series description for context, Protective Selina Kyle, Psychological Trauma, Trauma, mentions of fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23214610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLightningAndNexus/pseuds/BlueLightningAndNexus
Summary: Part of a larger series of one-shots I'm simply dubbing "My DC Universe."After a schism in the superhero community that led to the JL fighting amongst itself, and the Titans fighting the Young Justice, Dick is recovering at Wayne Manor with Artemis and his girlfriend, Koriand'r, aka Starfire. It's been months since he's seen Bruce or Selina. Fluff and slight angst ensues.Set in 2018, shortly after the "Superhero War."
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Series: My DC Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669048
Kudos: 30





	Patching Wounds, Visiting In-Laws

Dick walked into the grand stone-lined wall of the cave, his entire body aching. The bleeding on the cut above his face had dramatically lessened, but he could feel some small droplets of blood fall down his face every few minutes. 

His knuckles hurt. In the rush, Dick had forgotten some of the more crucial lessons Bruce taught him in punching. The two knuckles connecting to each of his middle fingers were bleeding; the right one was redder, but most of the knuckles on his left hand were in a similar shape. He’d need to hold some ice to it later. 

Dick was ambidextrous, and while he tended to have a slight preference for his right hand, some specific tasks required the use of both hands. Namely, combat and foreplay (but we don’t need to focus on the latter right now). When using his Escrima sticks, he couldn’t really afford to be too reliant on one hand or else someone would notice and exploit this reliance of they got too close. When using his fists, or fighting using bladed objects, he tended to use his right wrist for blocking and his left fist for punching. 

That happened today. He completely regretted his this, as it hurt to even reach for something with his left hand. 

Artemis walked behind Dick, her left foot sore and swollen. Her lip was busted, still a fresh injury, and some dried blood was caked onto her chin. Some small knife cuts lined her stomach from earlier today, from Tim’s batarangs just barely missing her and skimming her olive-colored skin. 

Starfire wasn’t as banged up as either of them, but she was nonetheless bruised, and Mister Terrific told her before she left that she had sprained her leg from when Superboy tried to break her ankle. She managed to get away, of course, and her healing was kicking in, but man, it hurt like hell when it first happened. 

Batman and Catwoman watched the two, both still in their full costumes, par the fact that Selina had removed her mask. Hanging over them was a gloomy mood that matched Bruce’s usual mood, but it was more intense. His eldest child nearly lost his life along with his best friend. That’s enough to send any adult spiraling; when those teenagers are superheroes who nearly got killed by an ancient evil…well that’s an entirely different level of worry and anxiety. 

Batman trained all of his sidekicks well. Selina knew this, by gods she was fighting this boy when he was 12. She of all people knew. But this fear hung over both of them all day, the knowledge that Bruce’s child might die…it was almost too much to handle. Bruce couldn’t lose another one, he just couldn’t for god’s sake. 

Luckily, he didn’t. But it was too close, WAY too close for comfort. 

“What happened?” Bruce’s voice was stern and strong, but Dick had lived with him for enough years. He knew that his voice was masking concern, trying to hide it under this façade of barely-contained anger. 

Not for Selina’s sake, she clued in to it the moment Bruce opened his mouth. Dick’s? Certainly not. 

It was for Artemis’ sake. Specifically, to maintain this impression of being a mysterious and strict mentor to Dick. 

But who was buying it? Artemis sure wasn’t. Neither was Kori. Leaving approximately no one. 

Dick allowed for a small smirk to crawl up the right side of his face, still cradling his left hand, curled up into a loose fist, into his hand, massaging his strained left wrist in the process. As he walked closer to his dark-clad mentor and adoptive father, his thoughts were cool and clear despite the fact that he nearly died today. 

“It’s okay,” he said, letting go of his bloody left fist and closing the distance with a few small steps, before placing a comforting right hand on the older vigilante’s left shoulder. His voice was soft as he tried to ease the worries of his father. “I made it out alive. It’s okay.”

Bruce’s attempted façade instantly cracked, like a thin piece of ice on Gotham sidewalks. He exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, lowering his head in relief. 

God, Bruce loved that smirk. Bruce’s smiles were frequent, but only for public events under his billionaire playboy identity. Completely artificial, with no substance or true emotion to them, unless you consider “Get me out of here, stop taking pictures of me” an emotion. 

But Dick’s? Dick’s were real. Unlike Bruce, who spent the majority of his teenage years in mourning for the parents he lost and the childhood he never got, and his early adult years faking it for the press; Dick learned to be happy in hard times from a young age. 

His smiles were like a thin yet bright ray of sunshine piercing through the dark clouds. The boy had what Bruce lacked; pure, radiant, constant enthusiasm. 

As this train of thought rapidly ensued within her boyfriend’s head, Selina moved off her seat on the table, First Aid Kit in her left hand, still tightly gripping her thin mask in her right hand, nails digging into the material. She made her way across the brief distance to Kori and Artemis, standing in close proximity to each other. 

“Are you two seriously injured?” she said. She looked down, eyeing Artemis’ cuts. Before she could say anything, the archer spoke up. 

“I promise, I’m fine,” she hurriedly said, still shocked to be standing before the ex-villainess Catwoman herself and her mentor in such a personal environment. 

“I’m quite alright as well,” Starfire responded, noticeably star-struck. “Thank you, Ms. Catwoman. Or, do you prefer Ms. Kyle?”

A light chuckle escaped Selina’s mouth. “Selina’s fine,” the woman in question replied, letting a satisfied smile rise, her first smile in a while. Small dark trails were visible underneath her eyes, mascara that had been ruined by crying, a detail especially noticeable against her ivory skin. Kori didn’t even notice. Artemis did. 

Bruce continued his conversation with Dick, allowing his voice to rise back an octave to his normal speaking tone as he spoke. “Please, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I won’t, Ba-“, Dick started, but was cut off. 

“It’s fine, we can use first names.” Bruce replied, his voice becoming calm, reassured. “They know, remember?” while gesturing towards Artemis and Kori with a leftwards tilt of his head. Kori gave Bruce a small smile at the gesture. The knowledge that Batman trusts Kori with his and his families identities was still comforting and satisfying, even after all these years. 

“Right,” Dick quickly replied. Of course Bruce gave his extremely specific and strict instructions on not revealing anything about his identity while with the Titans or Young Justice team, but Artemis and Kori had become exceptions over the years. Dick knew, of course he did, but old habits die hard. 

Dick felt the warm sensation of the cut on his forehead bleeding slightly again. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, the blood barely noticeable against the black material. 

“But I mean it, Dick,” Bruce continued. He began to lose his composure, and in a swift movement, whipped his cowl off, revealing his eyes, nervous and near-frantic. 

“Please, just promise me that you won’t do something as risky as that again,” Bruce said, choking out this words, several days of pent-up anxiety threatening to surface all at once. 

This was new. Bruce almost never showed this level of concern when Dick got back from a dangerous mission, in spite of all that both had been through. 

”After that first attack, we lost signal,” Selina explained, piping up from behind Dick and slightly raising her voice to make her words clear to all those in the room, all as she opened up the small First Aid Kits and applied some medical bandages to Artemis’ various cuts. “Once we saw Cyborg’s footage of the Tower being destroyed, and his saying he didn’t know if anyone else got out, we didn’t know…”  
Ah, so that was it. With all communication down, the League had no information of the attack besides Cyborg’s limited knowledge. Of course they were worried; once Raven evacuated everyone, it looked like there were no survivors. 

Dick redirected his attention back to Bruce, his face softening as he understood the man’s emotions. 

“I promise, dad.”

He lingered a bit during his sentence, allowing a small pause to fill the air between “promise” and “dad”. Selina, Kori and Artemis slightly perked up at the mention, Selina far more so than the other girls.  
Dick rarely called Bruce dad, in spite of Bruce having adopted him. Unlike Cass, Jason and Tim, Dick actually had loving, caring and nurturing parents before Bruce took him in. To call him “dad” was a rare occurrence, a decision Dick made shortly after Bruce adopted him to honor the memory of his actual father and namesake. 

But in moments like this, it’s hard to help. 

Tears threatened to spill down Bruce’s pale face as moisture welled in his eyes. Father pulled son in for a loving, close embrace. 

Dick could feel the flight-or-fight mode his brain had been stuck in finally shut down. He allowed himself to enjoy this rare hug. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Kori couldn’t sleep. 

Everytime she closed her eyes, she just remembered Connor. 

His features contorted in a devilish grin, his clothes torn and burnt off his body by Kori’s assaults, his eyes burning crimson with heat and energy, a shade of red that matched his skin.  
Everytime Kori closed her eyes, she remembered him screaming in pain as Kori had to shoot her starbolts directly into…

Okay, it was way too painful to think about. 

She looked over at the small alarm clock on the small table to the left of her bed, and according to the device, it was a few minutes shy of 12:30. This was unusual for her; she almost never had trouble sleeping back at the Tower. Of course, she never had a reason to not sleep back at the Tower. 

Kori let out a sigh as the memory of Titans Tower clung to her mind. She could only be grateful that no one from her team was killed in the fighting or in the collapse of the Tower, but Tula’s death was still etched in her mind, as were the many injuries sustained from both sides: Victor’s body being torn apart, Rachel getting stabbed, Terra…

No, Kori had to tell herself. She couldn’t let herself emotionally spiral. Not this late at night. If she was consumed with worry, she would never get the rest he needed. 

So many good memories had been made in that tower, so many times the Titans bonded, became a family. Kori let out a small sigh as the memories flooded to her mind: first moving in, becoming friends with everyone, the many birthdays, she and Dick becoming a couple, the surge of new members and new family members. 

It all came back to her at once. She had never given herself time to properly comprehend the recent events, never quite feel what happened or grapple with the loss. It was almost hard to register; only a few days ago, everything was fine and they were celebrating their win against the Brotherhood of Evil with Doom Patrol. She could remember that day well; Garfield was celebrating harder than anyone else, happy to be reunited with his team for another outing. 

Now, she’s sleeping in the massive mansion of her boyfriend’s stupidly wealthy father, who was also the man that trained him, with Artemis and an ex-villain. 

Dick slept to her right side, as they usually do in their queen-sized bed back at the Tower. His breaths were soft and slow, his chest rising and falling under the white sheets. Without his usual hair tie, Dick’s long black hair covered part of his face. 

Kori smiled, admiring the sight of her friend, teammate and partner. Usually, Dick falls asleep long after his girlfriend, working on some project late into the night with Victor or Jaime. During the rare exceptions when she falls asleep after him, cuddling next to him and listening to his heartbeat helps to put her to sleep. 

This time, she wasn’t doing that, for fear of waking him up. Oh well, Kori figured as she slipped out of bed, no point in staying here if I can’t sleep, so I might as well walk around. 

Luckily for Kori, when Dick brought her into the room, he left the door slightly ajar, just enough for Kori to slip through without opening the door and risk it creaking loudly. 

All Kori was wearing was her nightdress as she strolled silently through the halls of Wayne Manor. It was still strange to know who the secret of Dick’s identity. The reveal of Dick’s identity had been a shock to some of Dick’s other teammates (notably Artemis and Wally back when he was working with them), but it didn’t come as too much of a shock to Kori. To her, it didn’t matter what name Dick was going under or what costume he was using or who his father was, he would always stay the same in her eyes; a constant in her life when everything else was chaotic. 

Like it was being now, for example. 

The strangeness came more from having to witness Dick keep up impressions as this young, air-headed bachelor when he was in public; a far-cry from the mature side of his personality all the Titans had become used to over the years. 

As she strolled through the halls, Kori gazed upon some of the framed pictures on the walls; one of Mr. Wayne and his parents, one of Dick with his, one of Tim and Stephanie, and so on. Kori also saw some characters she wasn’t familiar with: one she recognized as Cassandra, Dick’s younger adopted sister, a thin girl with short, messy, black hair; a human girl with a blue Mohawk standing next to Cassandra. Kori didn’t know the latter, and while she never met the former, she heard stories of Cassandra from other members of the family. 

Thinking of Artemis and Wally, Kori’s thoughts turned to her peers. From what Dick told her, Wally got some burns on his back from when Dick had to fight him, but it was nothing too bad, the speedster’s costume absorbing most of the blast. 

As for Artemis, she wasn’t seriously injured, and Ms. Kyle got her cuts patched up earlier today, so Kori wasn’t as worried. She seemed quiet on the drive over, and Kori could only hope that she was just exhausted, as they all were…but she couldn’t be too sure. 

Kori’s thoughts quickly flipped to someone completely different as she wandered down the halls. 

Kori’s eyes found their way to yet another picture, this time of Jason when he was Dick’s age. 

He bore an arrogant, toothy smirk, not unlike his trademark grin that Kori had become familiar with over the years. He looked confident, but not cocky, and more than a little brave. 

Next to it, a second picture, this time of all of Mr. Wayne’s kids, organized by height: Dick, then Tim, then Jason, then Cass, and finally Damian. 

Kori stopped to examine both pictures, noticing how different Jason looked in the second picture compared to first. His smile was smaller, he seemed more reserved. His hair was slightly longer, with the white streak he received from the Lazarus Pit evident as well. His hair was also sticking up, like bedhead, but Kori knew that this was just how he always looked. 

Examining the different Wayne brothers, Kori noticed many of the differences between them. Damian was shorter than all of them, but based on her own recollection of the past, he seemed to be taller than Dick was at that same age. His hair was also shorter and spikier. Jason was built more muscular than any of them, and Kori knew from experience that this wasn’t misleading; he could be an absolute tank in battle, willing to take any amount of punishment and return it with twice the pain. Dick and Tim had similar lean, tall body types, but with different skin tones, plus Dick’s hair was shorter and darker. 

Looking at these pictures, Kori hoped Jason was okay. After the reunion, Mr. Wayne told her that last he heard, Jason and Roy were staying at their shared apartment. It relieved Kori to know they were alive after all the chaos, but she still had no idea what happened to them or how injured they were, if they were injured at all. 

Don’t, Kori reminded herself, stop thinking about everyone. That’s why you couldn’t sleep in the first place, remember?

Kori walked past the rest of the pictures, passing one of Mr. Wayne and Ms. Kyle that particularly caught her eye, before approaching a door to an outside balcony. 

The door itself looked more like a large window, with the Gotham night sky visible beyond it. Kori gently twisted the handle, not knowing how creaky the door was and making sure not to wake anyone, before slowly opening the door and stepping outside onto the balcony. 

It was a warm night, with clouds filling the sky, obscuring the otherwise beautiful and full moon, causing rays of twilight to spill out across the Wayne mansion. 

The balcony overlooked a large garden, with massive hedges along all of the corners, each of them probably ten feet tall. The balcony itself was rectangular shaped, supported by a series of wooden posts to elevate it to the second story; with several chairs and small tables in close proximity. 

On one of those chairs was a thin figure, hid partially in the shadow of the roof. A figure Kori didn’t even notice. 

“Can’t sleep either?”

With lightning-quick reflexes, Kori flipped around, an orb of glowing emerald energy concentrated into her hand, illuminating the entire balcony and revealing the figure as a wide-eyed Ms. Kyle. 

“Oh my god!” Kori exclaimed as her orb dissipated immediately. “I’m so sorry Ms. Kyle! I had no idea it was you!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Selina exclaimed as she got up out of her chair and stepped out of the shadow, the moonlight making her image clear as she approached the teen hero. “I shouldn’t have scared you, I thought you could see me through the door.”

After a moment's pause during which neither party spoke, Selina broke the silence. 

“And, call me Selina,” she reminded gently. 

“Sorry M—Selina,” Kori replied. “Hard habit to break.”

“It’s quite alright,” Selina replied, taking a strand of hair in front of her eye and playing with it. As she spoke, the clouds parted slightly, with some of the bright light shining onto Selina. 

Kori noted that, for someone who used to be a prolific bank robber in Gotham, a notoriously corrupt city filled with dozens of dangerous metahumans and criminals, Selina was an incredibly gentle person. Her words were soft, slow and gentle, and the presence she created on Mr. Wayne and his family put them at ease. Kori remembered a conversation she had with Tim earlier, wherein he explained to her that Selina had given up her criminal activities after meeting Bruce. Apparently, she lived by quite a strict code of honor as a criminal that she still upheld to this day.  
In the bright moonlight, Kori noticed that Selina had changed out of her costume (obviously) and was now wearing a blue tank-top, along with a pair of light grey sweatpants that Kori assumed belonged originally to Bruce, based on how they were so big on her that she had to roll them up so they wouldn’t cover her feet completely. 

“Are you doing alright?” Selina asked, gently putting her opening hand on Kori’s shoulder in a gesture that reminded the former princess of Dick and Mr. Wayne--sorry, Bruce---earlier in the day. 

“I’m doing fine,” Kori said. 

Selina retracted her hand, before turning her head to face the younger woman. 

“I saw that footage of you and Connor,” Selina uttered, her voice no longer lined with concern but admiration and respect. “You roughed him up quite good.”

At that last sentence, Kori’s posture and expression stiffened with regret. “I don’t particularly want to talk about it.”

“Oh, sorry sweetie!” Selina quickly exclaimed, “I didn’t reali-” but Kori cut her off. 

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

In truth, part of Kori did want to know what specifically Selina saw. She wasn’t proud of beating up some 16-year old, but once Trigon got through to the other team and all hell broke loose...well, she didn’t have much of a choice. 

She could only hope that Connor wouldn’t have any sight problems, but she also knew in her heart she was probably being too optimistic. 

No time to unpack that now, though. 

“He didn’t hurt you too bad, right? I heard from Artemis you two were really going at it for most of the brawl, that’s why I asked when you arrived.” Selina then took a moment to let out a light chuckle.  
“Then again, you’re an invulnerable alien. It’s like putting a band-aid on Superman. I don’t know why I thought I could do anything.”

“No, he didn’t hurt me too bad,” Kori replied. “I think I hurt him worse, in fact.”

“Admittedly, I didn’t see how that fight ended, but I did see most of it, and Artemis told me how you beat him when I was cleaning her cuts. It looked--and sounded---pretty brutal. I’m sorry you had to do that.”

Oh, so Selina actually watched quite a bit. 

“I...I just can’t believe that I couldn’t find another solution.” Kori spoke with caution, regret and sadness mingling together in her voice. “I never like hurting anyone unless they truly deserve it. I find that most of the team doesn’t.”

When she spoke, she thought of Dawn specifically. Luckily, she and Hank of all people escaped the fighting with minimal injuries. 

“But, he didn’t deserve it. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Kori continued, as she rested her forehead on the palm of her left hand. “I didn’t even realize I would go that far, or he would go that far.”

“Hey, it’s not like it was your fault,” Selina said as she turned her whole body towards the older woman. “You had no choice.”

“But it was my fault!” Kori practically yelled her words. “There must have been another option, but I just couldn’t think fast enough.”

Tears started to swell in her eyes. “Wally would’ve come up with a solution, or Rachel, or Barbara, or Dick or anybody, but they weren’t...available.” 

Selina wrapped the teenager in a tight hug, allowing for Kori’s tears to fall down her face and onto Selina’s shoulder. Admittedly, Kori was tall enough that Selina had to stand on her tiptoes to make the hug work, but it was quite alright. 

After only a moment’s pause, Kori returned the hug, pulling Selina closer into the embrace as she allowed herself to finally cry. 

“You know, Dick really loves you.”

The sentence was so sudden it stopped Kori’s sobs dead in their tracks. 

“W-what?”

“I mean it,” Selina continued. “He FaceTimes us a lot. He really loves being with you.”

Kori pulled away from the embrace, wiping away some of the leftover tears from her left eye. 

If Selina was being completely honest, she had absolutely no idea what she was saying or where she was going with this, but she was hoping that this would calm Kori. 

“Sweetie, what happened today was tragic, but it was not your fault.” Selina looked up at Kori, newly confident in what she was about to say. “You are not a bad person for what happened today; no one is.”  
Selina took Kori’s large hand in her own. 

“I understand what you are feeling. I really do. But I guarantee that holding on to that fight, onto the past, won’t accomplish anything. You fought the good fight, you protected your friend, and you know what? What if there was no other way. What if there was absolutely no way to stop Connor besides what you did, but what if there was another way. It doesn’t change what happened.” 

She stopped, she was ranting, but it didn’t matter, she needed to tell this woman what she wished someone told her. 

“With your quick thinking, you were able to stop more deaths from happening. That’s exactly what a hero should do, and it’s what you did. Kori, you aren’t the villain of the story, you were a victim, just like everyone else...but you are also the hero. And that’s pretty phenomenal.” 

Kori took a moment to register the other woman’s words, squeezing Selina’s hand a bit as she did so, but before she could say anything, Selina continued. 

“I meant what I said. About Dick. And between you and me, I think you two are really good for each other.”

Kori felt like she could cry all over again, but she knew she shouldn’t. 

“Thank you, M--Selina,” she spoke, her voice still uneven and airy from crying. “You’re pretty good at motivational speeches.”

Selina chuckled a bit, before placing her second free hand on Kori’s own, now holding both hands of the Titans member. “I promise, this will all pass. Everything will get better. Even Connor, and even you.” 

Okay, Kori might cry a little bit. 

“Do you want to stay up and talk more, or can you sleep now?”

“If it’s all the same with you,” Kori spoke, pulling one of her hands away to wipe away a fresh batch of tears, “I-I’d like to talk some more.”

Both women sat down on the nearby chairs, the cold metal sending a chill down Kori’s back despite the warm weather. Kori took deep breaths, calming herself down, as she spoke. 

“Do...do you think you could tell me more about Dick and Bruce. W-when they were younger?”

A genuine smile, one of nostalgia, materialized on Selina’s face as she turned to the sky, remembering the Dynamic Duo back in the good old days.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! If you picked up on it, this was initially intended to be part of a larger series, which is why the Teen Titans vs Young Justice conflict I allude to isn't terribly fleshed out. Ultimately, if I do ever write it, I'll also lend great focus to the Justice League themselves and turn it into DC's version of Civil War.


End file.
